Cooking/Shopping for the Week & Prepping/Freezing Meals

AuntieMC

bump

Bejede

Bump! Thanks for all the ideas!

Bookaholic88

bump

RobynMWilson

I get the majority of my suppers from www.skinnytaste.com

Depends on the meal on how I store it. For the lowfat baked ziti w spinach, I store a single serving in a BPA free plastic container. So a pan makes 8 servings for me. My meatballs, I store in zippie bags and as long as they are completely cooled and you let the air out of the bag before sealing it, they won't get freezer burnt. Certain things I make little foil packs, like roasted cauliflower and roasted broccoli, any meat without a sauce or tomatoes.

This week I made Skinny Taste spinach and feta stuffed chicken, which I stored my portions in zippie bags. I got 5 meals out of that. I will make the ziti next week, and the following week, I will be due for making cauliflower fritters and turkey taco filling. Staggered out like that, I'm only spending about an hour or so per week and have a constant rotation going in my freezer lol

kar328

bumping for later. I really need to do this. Thanks for all the great suggestions

NoleGirl0918

Bump for later.

dragonmom14

bump

BrendaLee

Should I buy a huge set of tupperware? Some Pins I see have stuff in big ziplocks...won't that freezer-burn?
What are some spices used in most things? (I am really bad at spices)
Do you have a budget?

Ziplocks are great for the freezer (the freezer bags are made for that). If I'm not freezing for more than a week or two, I'll just wrap it up in a couple of layers of plastic wrap. I'm not a fan of Tupperware, really. I like glass dishes for the fridge.

Onion powder, garlic powder & black pepper are the most common spices I use. Well, I seem to never have pepper on hand, but I should.

I definitely have a budget, and it's TIGHT. I work some cheaper meals in with more expensive meals. For me, the most expensive is chicken, since I only eat boneless, skinless, and it's about $15-16 for four breasts. That makes two dinners for two of us. If we have something like caesar salad or fried rice, I usually use one breast. With chicken, if you're not going to use it within a couple of days, freeze it.

Tip -- Leftover pasta sauce can go right in the freezer in the jar. Freeze it with the cover off, then pop the cover on once it's frozen.

songbyrdsweet

Very cool!

Okay, another question as I'm thinking of it.

What about cooked grains? Buckwheat (kasha), quinoa, rice--can they be cooked and frozen?

debussyschild

What I've done is plan my menus for each day (which is the same all week) and try to minimize what actually needs to be cooked when making the menu. Think choosing recipes (buy a cookbook!) that use the fewest amount of ingredients possible. This is also a huge time/money saver. You really only need to freeze portioned out stuff if you're trying to do all your cooking for a couple of weeks at a time. In that case, you'll want to plan what you want to eat each week (if you want variety) or plan to cook 2 weeks worth of the same daily menu. I've seen people use cheap plastic ziploc bags to freeze cooked/portioned meat, poultry, and fish. A food saver goes a LONG way toward avoiding freezer burn. So does avoiding how much moisture ends up in the ziploc before you freeze. Think letting stuff completely cool before putting it in the bag and tossing it in the freezer. For my husband and I, I'll cook all the food and put it in large tupperware containers in the fridge so that we can dole out portions as needed. I'll portion out food for my lunch and snack at work the night prior. If you plan to do a little bit of cooking each day, prepping the foods in advance that you'll use in the recipe is very helpful on cutting down on your time spent cooking. I make a tuna and egg scramble with cherry tomatoes, asparagus, and shallots (fancy!) every morning. This WOULD be time consuming if I didn't pre-wash and slice all of the vegetables at the beginning of the week. Believe it or not, fresh chopped vegetables will keep for a decent amount of time in the fridge, but anything past a week is pushing it. Taking fresh veggies and then freezing them will not work very well unless you plan to eat them cooked or use them in a recipe later. The freezing ruins the texture and makes them mushy. Same goes for refreezing fish. Have fun and remember that there are as many ways to prep meals in advance as there are people doing it, so find what works for you. Also, don't spring for expensive tupperware if you're not completely hooked on it. I use the cheap generic tupperware you can buy at virtually any grocery store for storing large and small portions of food. Prepping food in advance helps SOO much with tracking your food and creating that "control" in the great weight loss/maintenance/fitness experiment, LOL. But it is really designed to help you save money. So don't spend more than you have to to do it.

debussyschild

Very cool!

Okay, another question as I'm thinking of it.

What about cooked grains? Buckwheat (kasha), quinoa, rice--can they be cooked and frozen?

Rice might do okay if you freeze it after it has cooled completely. Quinoa? I'm not so sure of. Quinoa is really delicate and turns to mush easily. Oatmeal and buckwheat should freeze and then reheat easily since they've got a lot of bulky fiber keeping them from turning to complete mush. Give is a shot and then let everyone know how it goes :bigsmile:

songbyrdsweet

Okay, I have planned meals Fri-Sun using what my BF and I already have, and they will be:

Fri: Cheddar broccoli chicken boobs with mashed cauliflower

Sat: Carnitas w/ spanish rice (has beans, tomatoes, corn) for lunch and beef filet w/ carrots & potatoes & gravy for dindin

Sun: We will be out at lunchtime but dinner will be chicken parm with whole wheat pasta

Some of this stuff is using the last of what we have so there probably won't be much in the way of leftovers.

I have in my freezer about 5 bags of various frozen veggie mixes, some salmon filets, two chicken breasts, and two beef filets. I have oats, orzo, quinoa, cocoa powder, EVOO and black beans in my pantry. Plus the essentials of greek yogurt, eggs and fresh fruit.

I want to STOP buying protein bars, pre-seasoned veggie mixes, and maybe even BuddyFruits. For the most part I've removed frozen dinners and anything else pre-made with the exception of days I am just too pooped to even move or think. :P Instead I will use my food processor to make flour, smoothies, nut butters, bar mixes, etc.

Here's what I'm buying tonight:

Set of tupperware, varying sizes (side note, I HAD an awesome set which I bought with an ex and he took custody of half of it...sigh)
Two sizes of Ziploc freezer bags
Saran-wrap
Sharpie marker
Cooking spray

roasted red pepper (for wraps)
rotisserie chicken (to shred & freeze)
big bag of almonds (for snacking and to make almond flour)
oats (to make oat flour)
canned pumpkin (for baking)
vanilla extract (for baking)
one each of mexican, italian, and indian spice blends
canned chick peas (for hummus & salads)
fresh garlic
frozen berries (for smoothies)
ezekial bread (to freeze)
flat-out wraps (for...yea)
lettuce
avocado & guac mix
turkey pepperoni (don't judge, I love mini pizzas)
mozzarella
pasta sauce
frozen shrimp
ground beef
unsweetened applesauce (for baking)
buckwheat (this usually replaces rice)
dates (for baking)
dark choco chips (for OMNOMNOM--er, baking)
some sort of veggie spread mix I can put into...
plain greek yogurt
light coconut milk
sweet potato
egg white (I do eat whole eggs)
veggie boullion (for eventual crock pot & buckwheat)

I wrote a plan on our whiteboard with a section for meals and a section for groceries, although for now I am buying everything and sharing because I'm just a great girlfriend. :P Actually it's because this is my pet project and I want it done a certain way, hah Over the next couple days, the cooking shall commence! I am super excited and appreciative of all your help!

songbyrdsweet

Wanted to edit my post but I guess it's too late :P

Anywho, they didn't have the rotisserie chicken, but I got everything else. I got two LOTG lunchboxes with have little partitions and a built-in cold pak and two Salad Break bowls because I like their extra dressing compartment and I want to start eating more salad again. I couldn't find little silicone cupcake holders to put in and make it adorable so I will have to deal for now. :P

I also found a cool Ziplock vaccuum bag and hand-vac which I will be using tomorrow to package the 5 lbs of 93/7 beef I got for $20!

The total for everything was only $163 which is awesome considering the amount of long-term food I bought and the fact that some things will not need to be purchased again.

Now it is way too late to start processing everything but it is waiting for me tomorrow!

leonaedithlewis

Wow, you are good at this. Inspired

songbyrdsweet

Wow, you are good at this. Inspired

Well, I haven't really done anything yet haha ^_^ Hopefully I'm good at it!

ashlinmarie

I am just getting into the prepping more and freezing thing myself. I bought tupperware to freeze for my husband's lunches and he can throw it in the fridge the night before, thaw, and reheat in the one container. Normally I'd just try to make leftovers and eat that myself for lunch the next day, but now that my husband is getting into eating a little better, I have to do more. I buy chicken and beef mostly because I live in Japan and turkey isn't available and I don't like pork and am allergic to seafood. I also buy a lot of frozen fruits and veggies. The fruit is great for quick and easy smoothies and veggies you can steam or throw into whatever you're making. We also got a crock pot so I can make bigger meals and store stuff. Am trying veggie soup tomorrow.

As for leftovers...my mom taught me that it goes by a 3 day rule. After 3 days, it is no longer good to eat. I buy most things as needed and don't really have a budget for food...I just want to eat healthy and if I have to pay more, I accept that. I buy milk/yogurt/fruits/veggies as needed. I try to stock up for a week, and sometimes it lasts longer.

coulibalymuso

Bump for later

songbyrdsweet

Another Q...

Is there a big benefit to just planning the meals ahead of time and cooking some parts or just chopping stuff

versus

Making whole meals ahead of time and freezing them and reheating them?

Also, I'm not really having an easy time of trying to re-use things. I figure we'll just freeze the leftovers for our lunches.

O2Bslimagain

You can freeze milk. We are a family of 7' so we drink a lot of milk. If you do decide to freeze milk- make sure it has the round indents on the side- that way it doesn't crack during freezing. When you take it out of the freezer let it sit on the counter for about 24 hours. Give it a shake and it's ready to drink. It does turn yellow when frozen. Also, for it to thaw out I set it on a wire rack with a cookie sheet underneath to catch the water.

TheRunningGuppy

Things that work for me (family of 4):
I have a list of meals that are favorites. I have a stack of recipes to try. I then create a menu (usually covering 4 weeks, sometimes just 2) combining new & favorites. Items from the new recipes that were a hit get added to the list of favorites.

I do non perishable shopping every other week. Produce & milk usually once a week.

If I am cooking something like stew or chili, I make a large batch, and then throw half to two thirds into ziplock bags, and make sure to lay them flat so they don't take up too much room and also thaw quickly.

Cheese & tortillas freeze well. I buy both from Costco. If you make something like an enchilada, you can freeze part of the recipe before baking it. Line a baking dish with foil, fill it with your meal, then toss it in the freezer. After the meal is mostly frozen (or if you're like me, a day later) take it out, wrap the excess foil around the meal then put in a ziplock bag (9x9 pans work great, they fit in a gallon bag really well).

Pasta freezes ok, but has a tendency to get a little too soft. If it's going straight to the freezer, just make sure to cook to al dente. I do some pasta dishes frozen, but not very often.

If it is a meal you know will freeze well, take the time to make a double batch. It only adds a few minutes, and those days that you're too busy, they're a lifesaver. If you look at it as a leftover, it may not get eaten. Pretty much it needs to be pizza for leftovers to get eaten at my house.

msrootitooti

I use the Fresh 20 to plan my meals, tell me what I am cooking eat night, and what to buy at the grocery store.. The concept is 20 ingredients for 5 meals without waste. I paid $24 for the year with a Groupon. I bring leftovers or salads typically for lunch.

I do try and freeze meals but find that you have to plan to take them out...

Neat! Do you think it's saved you enough money to be worth the $24?

Forgot to follow up.. I don't think it has saved me money but it has definitely saved me time and also has us eating a bigger variety of foods with less waste.